SHANGHAI - China will provide 31.87 billion yuan (S$6.3 billion) in subsidies for the renovation of rural households this year, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said on Saturday.

The pilot scheme will cover 4 million poor rural homes, the agency cited a joint statement by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance and the National Development & Reform Commission.

Each dilapidated house will be given 7,500 yuan on average, while 130,000 poverty-stricken rural households located in the border areas will be granted another 2,500 yuan in subsidies each.